lash66

With now over forty years of regular table saw use, I've often wished my saws had been equipped with odometers and timers. I've wondered at how many hundreds, quite possibly thousands of miles of wood my right hand has pushed through a table saw's hungry blade over the course of how many continuous weeks, more likely months. A regular, often daily table saw user now for decades, I'd guess thousands of miles in what surely is months, perhaps a full year with hands on a running table saw.

Only two months ago, my thumb and first three fingers contacted the blade. They were not cut off but they weren't pretty. A hand surgeon worked on them for nearly two hours. They're all still there, same length, I'm able to use them and even more so with exercises and time. I'll never again make a fist, but nearly so and I've still got hours and hours and miles and miles of table saw time before I sleep.

It never occurred to me to sue Sears or Craftsman. Nor would it have come to mind to sue Powermatic, Delta, Ryobi, Dewalt or Grizzly.

Oxymoronic though it may sound, I safely use a table saw. Blade height, push sticks, feather boards, riving knife when I think necessary, a practiced, learned habit of pulling my right hand up and away when finishing a cut. Always. But for one fraction of a single second.

With thoughts heavily weighed with other considerations, I went into the shop. Stupid choice. Thankfully, force of habit, I'd set the blade height to just enough to clear the half inch material. Four inches wide, I didn't use the push stick. Though my eyes were on the saw, my mind was somewhere else entirely. I never saw my thumb and fingers brush over the top of the blade when I failed to pull my hand up and away from what was, ironically, hypnotically, the last of multiple, four inch rips. But I damn sure felt it.

What happened was in no way the fault of Craftsman nor would have been that of any of the saw manufacturers whose tools I've used. The success of the Osorio lawsuit amazes me. Even disgusts me. You need be told that if you jump off a building or step in front of a bus that you'll likely get hurt?

hfhcarp is incorrect in stating we need warning signs to prevent possible injury from scalding coffee. The steam alone should be indication enough of that. The warning signs are there so that the providers of goods and services we all seek can hopefully thwart needless, often greed driven, lawsuits.

Mr. Osario's injuries we're horrendous. A gesture of paying his medical expense, perhaps even something for lost wages would certainly have been commendable, but required? Legally awarded and ordered? One and a half million dollars? I know medical care does not come cheap, I have my own expense to remind me, but 1.5 million?

As blade braking technology becomes more affordable, I'll likely, one day, have a saw that is so equipped. As Canadian scootf points out, what's more valuable than my fingers, eh?

However, if lawsuits such as Mr. Osario's continue to be successful, the increasing rates for my various insurances may well counter any decreases in blade stop pricing and further delay my purchase.

Sounds as though one step forward, two back. Use of space, natural light, wood stove, on and on, cooling ventilation through windows in low southern walls, high northern walls. Intuitively, a south facing roof slope From the photos, one large rectangle of sloping, southern exposure. No mention of any use of appears a huge solar opportunity wasted. Maybe later?

As a carpenter,woodworker,stairbuilder and long time Greene & Green fan, I have all of the Greene & Greene books,I've been to the Gamble House and the Blacker House.I have been lucky enough to have done much of this style work myself. I know what I'm looking at in this video. Thank you both for sharing. Wow. I wish I had three thumbs to put up!

When will we see these advances combined with the European style of putting the tank in the wall, hanging the bowl from the wall, off the floor (much easier to clean),and having two flush volume selections?